If you are as in love with folk art and old cemeteries as
some of us around here are, you’ll be a fan of this book too. First published
in 1966, Graven Images “played a
critical role in the rise in interest in gravestone studies in the 1960s.” Who
knew there was such a thing? Regardless, it is a fascinating history of Puritans,
who shunned artistic expression except when it was on their tombstones. Ludwig
also explains the evolution of certain recurring gravestone symbols in depth,
such as winged skulls, peacocks, hooped snakes, and surprisingly, breasts. He makes
an interesting argument that “in spite of the fact that rural stonecarving was
in many ways a truly ‘primitive’ form of expression it did have moments of glorious
attainment and revealed for the first time an American propensity for pure line
and abstraction which have become a fundamental part of modern aesthetics.” Puritan
ideas have permeated many aspects of American culture, so it’s not a stretch to
see that they could have influenced the direction of modern art too.
Graven Images: New
England Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1650-1815
Allan I. Ludwig
NB1856 .N4 L8 1999 stacks
